Mail, mail go away...come again another day!

After being fed up with counter clutter I came up with an easy solution....clip boards. I don't know about you but my counters were always cluttered with bills, catalogs, coupons, and more. I found an easy way to organize my families clutter.

 I went to office max and bought 4 standard size clip boards for under $2.00 each. and 2 mini clip boards for under $1.00. I searched through my scrapbook paper and found some paper that matched my window treatments. I also found some Mod Podge. 

I cut the paper to the size of the clip boards, brushed on a generous amount of Mod Podge and the clip boards were ready to be hung up.

I chose to put mine in the laundry room which is just off of our mudroom. 

The clip boards hold the following. 

• Family Calendar
• Coupons
• Kid's Schedule
• Bills
• Stamps

I love how they turned out. We no longer have cluttered counters. I am one happy mommy!

Before the boards get covered with our clutter

Organized!
I love the mini boards. Below the mini board is a canvas that Big G painted for me.
Close up of the big boards
More of the big boards
Close up of the mini board.

A friend of mine posted a great tutorial about organizing homework clutter. Check it out. She is also doing a giveaway this week for a wetbag...woohoo.

No, you can't get up!

It can be so hard to get Big G to sit at the table during dinner time. I  get all of the food ready and served and then he wants to get up from the table. After many power struggles I thought of something that could change dinner time. 

You know all of those toy catalogs you get? Well keep them on the table. When your little one wants to get out of his or her chair pass them a catalog. Big G loves looking at the new toys. For some reason these catalogs are so much better than books or magazines. 

Dinners have been great since figuring this out. My hubby and I get to enjoy a meal without chasing an active toddler. The bonus is Big G is learning how to sit at the dinner table!

Set the stage. Notice the basket filled with catalogs.

This is about 10 minutes into dinner
One happy boy! It's great because he was telling us all about the different toys.

Great learning tools

I had to share our favorite website. 

http://www.starfall.com/

It's great for kids of all and I mean all ages. Big G loves it. When I taught my second graders and parents adored it...give it a try. We try to log on at least once a day. We love the non-fiction books under "I'm Reading"

I just picked these books up a couple of weeks ago. We think they are great. I work on 4 letters a week. Little G loves looking at the pictures and Big G loves working on identifying letters. I bought ours at Target.

Books

Toys, toys, toys

Organizing toys made simple! With two kids under 2 years old we have tons of toys laying around. I found a local carpenter to bring my toy storage design to life. The top of the unit is a book browser. The kids can browse the books instead of looking at the spines on a book shelf. I had something similar in my classroom when I taught. The bottom two shelves hold baskets for toys. I took pictures of the toys and attached the pictures to the baskets. The pictures make cleaning up a breeze for your kiddos and husbands. Big G has been cleaning up since 1.5 years old. 

Before

After

I took a picture of the toys and attached the picture to scrapbook paper. Then off to office Max. I laminated the pictures to make them more durable. After they were laminated I punched holes and attached the pictures to the baskets. If you don't want to splurge on laminating you can use clear contact paper. 

Document your little ones growth!

I started documenting my little ones growth the week they came home from the hospital. With Big G I took his picture in the same chair with the same doll every month. I switched it up a bit with little G. I went to the craft store and bought iron on paper. I designed a onesie for each month and ironed the print onto a 18 month onesie. I am loving how it is turning out. I am watching him grow into the onesie. 

Here are some pictures. I would love to post all 12 months of Big G's growth but know that not everyone is interested in looking at tons of pictures. I will post a couple of random pictures of each G man.

Big G 1 week old

 Half way to a year...6 months old

Little G 2 months old

Now 7 months old

Do you document your little ones growth? How do you do it?

Make your own Moby Wrap

You have to check out this blog. I was going to post a tutorial for making your own  Moby Wrap but a friend did it for me! I am one happy girl. Check it out

Make your own wrap

Happy baby wearing. You will never go back to those store bought baby carriers again. Give it a try...I promise that you will love it!

Bargain sites that I LOVE!

Everyday I try to hit the following sites. 

http://www.babysteals.com/ 

This one sells out fast. A new steal is posted every morning at 10:00 am. Get there at 10:00 am when they post the first steal. If you get there at 10:10 the steal may be gone. 

http://www.mamabargains.com/

 I love this site because the items don't sell out as quickly as the above site. This site lists there deals until they are sold out. It could be hours or days.

http://kids.woot.com/

New deal everyday. I have yet to buy from this site.

http://www.babyearth.com/baby-sale

Wow! This site is so addicting. They list an item and keep it up for an hour. The price keeps dropping during the time. You don't know whether to wait for a cheaper price or buy the item to make sure you can get it. So much fun! This site only runs M-F

A while ago I bought a crib bedding set from http://www.babysteals.com/ . 

I loved it and wanted to use it for the boy's bathroom...yes, a crib bedding set for the bathroom. Crazy sounding, I know!  Here is the finished product.

I started by painting the bathroom a buttery yellow. After painting the walls I added vinyl brown dots that I bought from a seller on Etsy.

Before

After

Here is what I did with the window valence

The crib bumper was made up of pendents that were strung together. I cut the pendents off of the string and arranged them in circles on a white shower curtain. I don't sew so I used an iron on adhesive. So far so good.  The curtain is tied on to the rod using the string that was once holding the pendents together. I cut the string into 5 inch pieces and tied the curtain on to the rod.

The finishing touches were with the personalized towels. 

and...the free bathtub shaped basket that was on my doorstep after having Grady. A local group gives you a Welcome Baby gift. I had picked up bibs and burp cloths on an earlier baby steal that matched the bedding. I rolled up the bibs and cloths and placed them into the free basket.

Happy Shopping Ladies. If you have a great site that I should add let me know. I am always looking for a good deal.